Machine for cutting shoe sole taps



June 3, 1947. P. WILLIAMS 1 I MACHINE FOR CUTTING SHOE SOLE TAPS Original Filed Jan. 21, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet l June 3,

- Original Filed Jan. 21,

1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 HEE: HIM

June '3, 1947. u s 2,421,731

MACHINE FOR CUT TING SHOE SOLE TAPS Original Filed Jan. 21, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 June 3, 194 P. WILLIAMS MACHINE FOR CUTTING SHOE SOLE TAPS Original Filed Jan. 21, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented June 3, 1947 MACHINE Foe CUTTING SHOE SOLE, TAPS Parker Williams, Weston, Mass, assignor to Williams Cut Sole 00., Boston, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Original application January 21, 1944, Serial No.

519,110. Divided and this application December 8, 1944, Serial No. 567,204

6 Claims. 01. 164-19) This invention relates to the manufacture of shoe sole taps of the so-called angle type. This type of tap has front and rear straight edges approximately parallel to each other, and side edges which are inclined at difierent angles to said front and rear edges so as to approximate the inclination of the inner and outer edges of the forepart of a shoe sole. Naturally these angles in a left tap are inclined oppositely to those for a right tap.

The customary method of cutting such taps is to strip sole leather into suitable widths for the particular size of tap to be made, the Width of the strip being equal to the length of the tap, and then to cut across this strip at suitable angles to produce either right or left taps, depending upon the angle at which the knives are set.

Competition in this line is so keen that a saving of even, say, one-tenth of a cent per pair of taps, is a very important matter to the manufacturer of these goods. The present invention aims to improve the machines for cutting angle taps with the object of reducing the time and labor involved in this operation.

The nature of the invention will be readily understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a sole cutting machine of a common form but modified in accordance with this invention;

Fig; 2 is a side elevation of the upper part of the-machine shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view through the knife holder, this section being taken on the line 3-3, Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a plan View of a cutting knife provided by" this invention;

Fig. 5 is a vertical, sectional view on the line 5-5, Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a plan view illustrating a step in the novel method of this invention;

Fig. 7 is a side View of a knife used in performing one of the operations of this method;

Figs. 8 and 9 are plan views of the articles cut from the sole leather strip shown in Fig. 6;

- Fig. 10 is a perspective View of one of the gauges shown in Figs. land 6; and

V Fig. 11 is a plan view of a typical angle tap.

Referring first to Fig. 11, the tap there shown is like the common commercial article which has long been on the market. This is a right tap and thefinal productmade fromit has a shape like 1 2 the forepart of a right shoe sole, substantially as indicated in dotted lines in said figure.

According to the method of this invention sole leather is cut into strips 3, like that shown in Fig. 6, having opposite parallel edges a and I), each strip being of a width equal to the combined length of a right and left tap positioned end to end. This strip next is out along an intermediate line C, parallel to and equally spaced from the outer edges a and b, to substantially divide the strip into two equal sections, while still leaving these sections connected together sufliciently to enable the entire strip to be handled efliciently.

Preferably this cutting operation is performed in a stripper with a knife lik that shown at 4 in Fig. '7, the cutting edge of the knife being notched at intervals, as indicated at 5, so that when it cuts through the strip 3 it wil1 leave uncut portions or ligaments 0' servin to connect and hold the two sections together. 7

' Next, transverse V-shaped cuts are made entirely across the strip 3, the first out being made at d, Fig. 6, to produce an end of suitable shape on the strip and the next out being made at e, the latter out being at a sharper angle than the first out. And these operations are repeated, as

shown at d and e, and so on, one cut alternating with another to the end of the entire strip.

Sole leather sectionsso produced are shown at A and B in Figs. 8 and 9. It will be observed that the section A contains two angle taps. If we assume that the grain side of the leather is down, then the lower one will be a right and the other aleft. In section A the two taps are positioned toe to toe, while in the other section they are located heel to heel.

' Thus, by this method, a pair of right and left taps are produced at each out following the first one. The two taps in each section may or may not be connected together by the uncut portions 0' depending on the spacing of these connecting points. If they are so connected then they may be easily separated simply by bending the two sections along the middle line of cut C.

The present invention provides a novel machine for producing taps in accordance with the method above described. Fundamentally this machine is like that known commercially as the Knox Sole C'utter shown in Patent No. 1,191,344, but it includes modifications embodying features of this invention which are essential to production of'the desired results. The Knox machine is well known in the cut sole trade and requires no description except to point out that it comprises two cutter heads or beams 6 and 1, respectively, Figs. 1 and 2, pivoted on the machine frame at 8 and ll and carrying two knives Ill and H, respectively. The beams are operated by connecting rods I2 and I3 running to eccentrics on a shaft located in the base of the machine frame, so that the beams are swung about their nespective pivots 8 and .9 to bring the cutting dges of their respective knives l and H alternately down into contact with the upper surface of the cutting block [4.

The strip of sole leather to be cut is fed to the cutting block across the upper surface of a fl t table is and is guided by one edge runnin contact with a guide plate IS. The latter is adjustable transversely in a direction parallel with the beams and is clamped in its. adjusted position by the bolt l6 provided with a handle I1.

In using the machine in the customary manner the strip of sole leather is fed by hand across the table I4 and the cutting block until its for- W d odes st ikes a stop.- Assuming that the machine is running, a pair of electing arms l8 strike the end that has. been se ered by the first out and knock it down, the operator continuing to feed the stock iorward rapidly as he is allowed to by the action of the knives. The feed, of course, takes place only between cuts, and hese perations are continued until the entire strip has been worked up. At all times the edge of the strip is guided a ainst the side gauge 1 5.

So far as the construction and-operations above described are concerned. they are like those of the regular commercial machine.

or the purposes of this invention, however, the customary knives are replaced with special angular knives adapted to make the cuts 11 and 8, Fig, One of these knives is shown at I! Figs. :3, 4 and 15.. It has a sturdy frame or body Il and a cutting knife or blade 4;! secured to it. This part ul r knif is intended tomake the cut. e, Fig. 6, but the other knife is like it except thatd it has a flatter angle adapted to make the cut In order to mount the knife on the beam 1 a holder or internal beam. so alled, Figs. 1 and 3, is pr vided. this. holder being of an inverted T shape with the stem or shank of the. T located in a slot 3|. formed in the be m 1, and the bar of the T being pulled up snu ly a ainst th bottom of the beam by bolts M 22, Figs. 1 and 3. These bolts pro ect thro gh slots lnthe beam. as clearly shown in Fig. .3, and he entire holder may bev adjusted lengthwise of the. beam by the adj st ng. bolt 23 which has a rotative relation only to the beam but is screw threadcd into a block 23' set into the holder 2!).

The knife is clamped to the bottom of the holder by a bolt 24 Fig. 3, which passes freely through the holder 20, while the bolt head on. its lower end bears against. the lower end of a bushing 25 set into the framev Ho of the knife. assembly or cutter unit. The stem of the. bolt pas es through this ushing and a reshaped nut 26 is threaded on the upper end of the olt and bears against the upper surface of the part 20 so that by turning up this not the knife fram is pulled up securely against the bottom of the holder 2.9,.

It. is important to have two knives, that make thecuts d and a. set so that: in making thes cuts d and .e the cutters impinge upon the cutting block 44 in lines that intersect. each other exactly in median lin s. a and b as shown in Fig. 6 directly above the block 14- which is shown diagrammatically in said figure. For this reason means is provided for adjusting the relative distance between the knives so that, no matter what size tap is cut, the intersections of said lines of impingement of the two knives on the block will always come in the two median lines just referred to. As shown in Figs. .3 and 4, the bushing 25 has an eccentric hole for the passage of the bolt 24 so that by turning this bushing the knife frame is moved forward or backward.

v A, pin 21, ,Fjgs. 3 and 4, which projects downwardly from the internal beam 20 can also be adf usted by means of a screw 21', with which the machine customarily is equipped, so that the net result .of the two adjustments is to move the knife backward or forward by the necessary amount to make the two knives cut on the same center line, as indicated in Fig. 6 at d and e. By the center line is meant a straight line through the intersecting points J and f, Fig. 6, and at right angles to the side edges a and b. The bushing is locked in its adjusted position by a set screw 29.

Thu with this arrangement, the center line o1 one of the knives can be adjusted so that it will coincide with that of the other. flhis is important in setting the machine to cut taps of diiferent sizes, as any change in the length of the tap causes a consequent change in the center line of that tap, as indicated at a or b in Fig; 6.,

The extent of the feeding movement of the leather strip 3 between successive cuts must -be equal to the average width of the taps, This width is measured along the median lines a" and b, Fig. '6, which, of course. is spaced from the outer guiding edges a and b by a distance equal to one-quarter of the over-all Width of the strip 3. For this purpose gauging devices or stops .23 and 30, Figs, 1 and 6, are provided to enga e the forward end of the strip 3 exactly at the ends of the lines and b and they are so adjusted that the distance which the strip is fed betweensuccessive cuts will always be exactly the desired value. These stop devices 2.8 and 311 are like that shown in Fig. 10, and they are secured to the forward ends of guide rods 32 and 33, respectively, Fig. 1, both slidablethrough the central portion, of a bar 34 which. forms part of the machine frame. A yoke .35 connects these rods and. permits one to be adjusted relatively to the other by means of set screws 36. This yoke carries. an

adjusting screw 31. provided with a hand wheel 33, which rotates freely in the yoke but. is threads ed into the bar as. The steps 23 and .310 are slotted. as indicated at y n i .10. to receive fastening screws or bolts Gr, Fig. 1, by means of which they are secured to the rods 32 and 33. Thus the stops. 2.8 and so can readily be adjusted toward and from each other and also toward and from the path of travel of the. material tobecnt.

It will be seen from the foregoing that this invention effects an important economy inv the manufacture of angle taps. As compared with the old machine it substantially doubles the rate of production with only a. very trifling, if any; increase in the expense .of preparation of thesole leather for the. cutting step. In this connection it may be; pointed out that while the stock from which the taps arev out has been referred to as sole leather, since this is the material more commonly used for this purpose, the invention is equally useful in making taps of this kind from other types of shoe sole material. Consequently,

the term sole leather or leather, as herein used in the specification and claims is intended to include other forms of outsole stock. Also, by

the term a pair of right and left taps I mean a right and a left tap as shown, for example, in Fig. 8 or in Fig. 9.

While the preferred embodiment of this invention is illustrated in the drawings, it will be evident that the invention is not limited to embodiment in the particular form shown.

This application is a division of my pending application Ser. No. 519,110, filed January 21, 1944, the claims in this application being limited to the machine structure, while the claims in the parent application define applicants method and a novel product produced by that method.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim as new is:

1. In a shoe tap cutting machine, the combination of a cutting block, means for guiding into cutting position across said block a strip of sole leather having a width equal to twice the over-all width of a pair of right and left taps positioned end to end. supports for two cutting knives, mechanism for moving said knives alternately to cut through said strip and against said block, and two knives mounted in said respective supports, one shaped to cut the forward edge of a sole leather section containing a right and a left tap .disposed end to end and the other knife being shaped to cut the rear edge of said section, whereby a pair of said right and left taps will be severed from the strip at each out after the first one.

2. A shoe tap cutting machine according to preceding claim 1, in combination with two stops positioned to engage the forward end of said strip at points spaced from the opposite edges of the strip by a distance equal to one-quarter of the entire width of the strip.

3. In a shoe tap cutting machine according to preceding claim 1, a construction in which said knives both have V-shaped cutting edges and the angle of one is substantially more obtuse than that of the other.

4. In a shoe tap cutting machine, the combination of a cutting block, means for guiding a strip of sole leather into cutting position across said block, said strip having a width equal to twice the over-all width of a pair of right and left taps positioned end to end, two beams, two V-shaped knives mounted in said respective beams, mechanism for operating said beams to 5 cause said knives to cut alternately through said strip and against said block, one of said knives having a cutting edge of such angularity as to cut the forward edge of a sole leather section containing a right and a left tap disposed end to end, the other knife having an edge of different angularity shaped to cut the rear edge of said section, whereby a pair of right and left taps Will be severed from said strip at each out after the first one, and means for supporting one of said knives in its respective beam comprising an internal beam mounted for slidable adjustment in the main beam on which it is supported, means for locking said internal beam in its adjusted position in the main beam, and means for clamping a knife to said internal beam.

5. A shoe tap cutting machine according to preceding claim 4, in combination with additional parts cooperating with the means for securing said knife to said internal beam operable to adjust the knife at right angles to the direction of said sliding adjustment of said internal beam.

6. In a shoe tap cutting machine according to preceding claim 1, a construction in which said knives bothhave V-shaped cutting edges, the angle of one being substantially more obtuse than that of the other, in combination with means cooperating with said supports for the two cutting knives to support them for independent adjusting movements both toward and from each other and also in parallel directions at right angles to said adjusting movements toward and from each other, whereby the cutting edges of said knives may be made to impinge upon said cutting block in lines that intersect each other exactly in the two median lines on said strip which are spaced from the outer edges of said strip by a distance equal to one-quarter of the over-all width of the strip, and two stops positioned to engage the forward ends of said strip at points in line with said respective median lines.

PARKER WILLIAMS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in'the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 803,710 Quarmby Nov. 7, 1905 846,153 Souther Mar. 5, 1907 1,936,088 How Nov. 21, 1933 1,002,296 McPike et al. Sept. 5, 1911 

